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Oak
Oak is Holly's partner and the Yule Team leader, also known as Major Mica Ellison. Holly believes that Oak is in Prague, even using it as the key for her Caesar shift, but she expresses uncertainty over Oak's whereabouts—or even the likelihood that her partner is still alive. Oak never speaks in canon. In the Patreon-exclusive content, Holly sometimes records herself pretending to be Oak so she can listen back when she's extremely distressed. However, as Holly also repeatedly states she's a terrible actress, it's unknown how reliable these portrayals are. Regan Adler has stated she intends to keep both Oak's gender and relationship to Holly ambiguous, as she enjoys having people project their own experiences and ideas onto the character. Her suggestions for Oak's potential identity in relation to Holly include spouse, cousin, best friend/roommate, or sibling/twin. Season One Oak is imprisoned in a high-security military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after attempting to murder General Thomas Willard over allegedly assaulting Holly. Holly, who doesn't know where Oak is at the time, calls Oak out for abandoning her both at the party and after. Holly agrees to talk Oak into finishing the highly classified mission, and everything appears to be going well for them. They exchange secure emails and make plans for their reunion. Oak appears to be nervous about Ivy's upcoming arrival, having recurring nightmares in which Oak's impulsiveness or carelessness gets a small, helpless, innocent life destroyed in gruesome ways. However, Oak appears to be happy about the imminent changes, helping Holly narrow down options and sending her supplements and fretting about her health. Oak talks about wrapping up the mission and having Thai or Mexican food with Holly in a few days. Then suddenly, Oak disappears, only telling Holly to run via text message. Season Two Oak is still incommunicado in season two. Holly trusts Oak enough to stay hidden from the military, but as she goes into early labor while still being pursued, she sees no choice but to disavow Oak to save herself and Ivy. In Transmission 7, she condemns Oak for giving her a marijuana brownie before the holiday party, for abandoning her when she passed out, for coercing her into going to the ER and pressing charges, and for drugging her against her will with Xanax. She apologizes in her Morse code in the transmission, telling Oak she picks Ivy—and that Oak abandoned them. Holly mentions Oak again in Secure Transmission 0817. She promises Ivy that running off and abandoning them is Oak's loss—not hers or Ivy's. She also mentions that Oak was supposed to be there reading Psalms to Holly during labor... but instead Holly has to do it by herself. Sometime between Transmission 8 and Transmission 9, Willard visits Holly to deliver her discharge papers and see Ivy. He shows Holly video footage of Oak withdrawing every cent from a shared bank account, leaving her homeless and penniless with a medically fragile newborn. Early Life Oak was raised in an affluent Jewish home and was acquainted with Holly from a young age (at least high school). Oak attended a private school and starred on the hockey team as both center and captain. After The Incident, Oak and Holly were both homeschooled for the rest of their high school career and then attended the same university in Boston. Oak majored in theatre arts. Military Oak talked Holly into joining the USMC after college graduation. They went to USMC Officer Candidate School (essentially boot camp for aspiring Marines who hold college degrees) together in 2006 and obtained the rank of second lieutenant upon completion of the program. Oak thrived in OCS and tried to help Holly, who struggled significantly. Holly and Oak both obtained the rank of first lieutenant in 2008. Oak was promoted to captain in late 2010, although Holly did not receive her promotion until late 2011. Oak was promoted to major in 2015, and the pressure of becoming a field-grade officer turned a recreational stimulant habit into a serious substance abuse problem. Unlike Holly, however, Oak's issues have never been noticed by anyone outside Yule Team. Oak was trying to earn an honorable discharge and leave the military entirely after finishing one final mission in Europe, but something went wrong. Oak is currently AWOL, having walked off the mission and emptied a bank account shared with Holly of every cent the two had. Yule Team Oak takes leadership very seriously and tries to be an encouraging leader. Oak is generous with praise, such as "You're doing a great job!" Despite having the title of "leader," and outranking the rest of the team, the title "leader" primarily denotes Oak's role as operational specialist, which is comparable to an air traffic controller. The role requires a significant amount of attention, multitasking ability, charisma, and strategic planning, leading Oak to take amphetamines constantly out of fear of letting the team down. Oak led many small teams as captain, but has only occasionally led teams outside Yule Team as a major. Personal Life At home, Oak appears to be as dysfunctional as Holly. Holly claims (while pretending to be Oak) that she's the reason Oak has clean dishes and usually wears pants outside the house. The accuracy of this statement is unknown. Based on Holly's statements and portrayal in 0417, Oak appears to be friendly, upbeat, and helpful, but also prone to selfishness and moodiness. Holly states that she isn't just angry that Oak abandoned her at the party to get high, but that it was "fucked up" of Oak to pressure her into filing charges, demand comfort and forgiveness for abandoning her, and then leave Holly for a new assignment. Oak is excellent with babies and small children. Religion Oak is an atheist and kind of obnoxious about it. Special Interests * Guitars/ukuleles/music * Motorcycles * Makeup * Succulents * Video games * Sex * Cooking * Fitness * Roller coasters * Vaping (Holly makes mods occasionally) * Star Trek, Star Wars, sci fi in general (more interested in the genre, vs. Holly with specific canons) Fears and Triggers * Furbies * Being responsible for a teammate's death * Being responsible for Ivy in any capacity. * Being separated from Holly Drug Abuse Oak has used a variety of drugs since adolescence. In high school, the substances of choice tended to be ecstasy, marijuana, and alcohol. Those preferences continued into university, with the addition of experimentation with drugs such as ketamine, GHB, heroin, meth, speed, and cocaine. Oak and Holly frequently got high together in the past, although Holly eventually stopped using hard drugs. Presently (or at least, as recently as December), Oak's drugs of choice were "uppers"—amphetamines (speed) in the field, and cocaine and occasionally meth at home. Category:Characters